Exit polls have predicted that the BJP will retain Delhi’s three municipal corporations, voting for which was held on Sunday. The counting for the 270 wards across the three civic bodies is on April 26 for the election billed by rivals as a referendum on two years of the Arvind Kerjriwal government.

is on April 26 for the election billed by rivals as a referendum on two years of the Arvind Kerjriwal government.

Five things about Delhi’s civic polls that have generated a lot of interest:

BJP sweep predicted

Exit polls have predicted a huge BJP win. An exit poll by India Today gives about 80 seats each to the party in north and south corporations and 50 in the east corporation. The AAP is predicted to be far behind in the second place in all three corporations, marginally ahead of the Congress.

ABP News, too, has forecast a big victory for BJP, with AAP a distant second. It gives the BJP 88 of 104 seats in the north, 83 of 104 in the south and 47 of 64 in the east. In total, the poll gives BJP 218 seats, AAP 24 and Congress 22.

Election was cancelled in Maujpur in the east and Sarai Pipal Thala in the north because of the death of a candidate in each of the two wards. Voting in these two areas would be held in May, state election commission officials have said.

Glass half full?

Almost half of Delhi’s voters stayed away from polling, with the city recording a turnout of 53.6% — a notch higher than the 2012 civic election. After a slow start, voting picked up later in the day, especially in the evening. When the polls closed, more than half of the city’s 13.2 million voters had exercised their franchise.

Going by civic poll turnouts since 1997, Sunday’s was the highest. In 2012, 53.23% of the electorate cast their vote. Of the three corporations, the east recorded the highest turnout of 55%, followed by the north’s 54% and the south’s 50%.